Ancient Indian Civilization

1. Ancient Indian
Civilization
3rd Civilization

2. Introduction
India’s Geographical Setting:
-Himalayan Mountains are in the North. -Ghats Mountains are east & west. -
India is a sub-continent plateau

4. Two main River
• Monsoons (Seasonal winds with rain) hit India. -India’s two main rivers are;
The Ganges & Indus River -Indus Valley is the cradle of India’s civilization.

5. Indus Valley Civilization
• The first settlements ca. 3000 B.C.E., when farmers settled along the Indus
River in what is now Pakistan.

6. Instruction: Watch the video then write at least
four lines about Indian civilization

7. First Settlement
• The first settlements ca. 3000 B.C.E., when farmers settled along the Indus
River in what is now Pakistan.
• By 2500 B.C.E. the entire region was dominated by two cities called; Harappa
and Mohenjo-Daro

8. Moen Jo-Daro
• Task: Task: Read the 24 (Sub-title cities) then
write two facts about Harappan Civilization.

9. Harappa
• Task: Read the 24 (Sub-
title cities) then write
two facts about
Harappan Civilization.

10. Economic Life
• Harappan traded with Iran and neighboring regions in India to the east.
• Moen-Jo-Daro traded with the Persia Gulf and Sumer to the west.

13. Political Structure
• Villages & cities were never politically united; however, they did share a
common language & culture.
• This is very similar to Mesopotamia and China. Region was united only by
trade.

14. Indus Valley Achievements
• Writing system.
• Trading Seals Writing developed from earlier trading seals, which had the
merchants name and symbols of trade items

15. Languages
• Sanskrit

16. Religion
• Task: Read the paragraph related with religion then write your own
understanding about Indian Civilization religion.

17. Terra Cotta Head

18. Wheel
• Wheel technology ca. 2300-2200 B.C.E

19. Task1: List Modern means of transportation and their role in
economy.
• Means of transportation: Example Bus.

20. Standard weights and measures based on ratio
of 1/16th.

21. Task 2: Write the modern standard weight
and their uses.
• Explain

22. Cotton
• The first civilization to cultivate cotton and make cotton clothes.
• First matrilineal society (female led society.

23. Religious Beliefs
• •Great Bath Tanks were used for the purification of the body & soul.
• Religion beliefs were centered on the idea of an afterlife, thus bodies were
buried with personal items

24. Humpback bull
• Symbolized leader, whose
strength protects the
people.

25. Aryan
Invaders
• Aryan invaders: Around 1500
B.C.E., the Indus culture were
conquered by the Aryans.
• The Aryans were a nomadic
people who migrated into the
Indus Valley from central Asia
(Russia.)
• They introduced iron and the
horse chariot to India.
• A new government system. They
had no complex government; only
grouped in clans, that were ruled
by warrior chiefs called rajas

26. Aryan
• The Aryan tribes settled in different regions of northwestern India. • The
tribes were called Gana (meaning “collection” of peoples). • The chief of
each tribe was an hereditary job. He had final say on decision; but had to
listen to a committee of the people

27. Video: Vedic Age
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RCzulW_kGMk

28. Task 1: Compare and contrast the Aryan
religious beliefs with Islam and Christianity..
• Answer…………….

29. Vedic Age
• The Vedas “Books of Knowledge”: A collection of poems & sacred hymns,
composed around 1500 B.C.E., that describes the beliefs & daily life of the
Aryans. The period of 1500 – 1000 B.C.E. is called the Vedic Period

30. The Ramayana &The Mahabharata
• Two Aryan epics written around 1000 B.C.E. They are stories about Aryan
life, and wars during this period. The period from 1000 – 500 B.C.E. is called
the Epic Period. • The Ramayana tells the story in which the (good) king
Rama kills the (evil) pre-Aryan king Ravana.
• Hindu deities: Brahma, the “Creator” Vishnu, the “Preserver” Siva, the
“Destroye

31. Guru
• A new education system. Children were taught by a guru (teacher). Every
student, including the chiefs son, had to obey the guru. All education was
rigorous and giving orally.

32. Marriage
• A new marriage tradition. The red dot on an Indian woman’s forehead goes
back to the Aryan tradition of having a groom apply a spot of his blood on
his bride’s forehead, as a sign of marriage

33. Caste System
• The Hindu religion to
India. 6. A new social
organization, called the
Caste system.